Automatic grain-measuring attachment.



No. 637,293. Patented Nov. 2|, |899. E. SEXTON.

AUTOMATIC GRAIN MEASURING ATTACHMENT.

(Application led. Nov. 23, 1898.) (Ilo Modal.) 3 Sheets-Sheet WITNESSES.INVENTOR @ma www 70er M QV www' me cams paens cr;4 Pnooumo.. wAsHwcrroN,n4 c.

No. 697,293. Patented Nov. 2|, |899.

- E. sExToN.

4AUTOMATIC GRAIN MEASURING ATTACHMENT.

. (Application filed Nov. 23. 189s.) (No Modal.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

21m/fg.

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Patented Nov, 2f,l |899.

(Application med Nov. 2s, 189s.)

(Nollodel.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3,

INVENTOR va/LZ THE Nonms Pssns co.. mom-Lema. WASHINGTON, D, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

EARL SEXTON, OF PEMBERTON, NEV JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC GRAIN-MEASURING ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 637,293, dated November21, 18799.

Application filed November 23, 1898. Serial No. 697,299. (No modelJ T0@ZZ whom t may concern: Y

Be it known that I, EARL SEXTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pemberton, in the county of Burlington and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and useful Automatic Grain MeasuringAttachment for Threshing-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to harvesting machinery, particularly to threshers,whose object is to measure the grain as it comes from said thresher andpermit of its easy and expeditious handling; and it consists of anautomatic measuring device or attachment which is located adjacent theconveyer or elevator of a thresher and is provided with an upper cut-offand a lower dump, either sliding or pivoted, so arranged and operated bysuitable machinery that they automatically open and close alternatelyand successively, one being closed prior to the opening of the other, toiill and empty the measuring-box, cutting off the supply of grain as thecontents of the boX are dumped and refilling said box on the return ofthe lower dump to its place and the withdrawal of the upper cut-off, thenovel details of construction of said measuring attachment being fullyset forth in the following description, particularly pointed out in theclaims, and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specification, in which drawings-- Figure 1 represents a sideelevation em bodying my invention, showing the arrangement of machineryat the left of the device, lookin g at the front thereof, and theconveyer in its rear. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the same. Fig. 3represents a front elevation; and Fig. 4 represents a section on theline 4 i of Fig. 3, showing the machinery on the right of the device,looking at the front of the same, the conveyer in its rear, andparticularly disclosing the internal arrangement and relative positionsof the upper slide and the lower tilting board in full lines during thefilling of the measuring-chamber and in dotted lines during the emptyingof the same.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

Reference being had to the drawings and to a description of themechanism in detail, A designates my improved measuring attach.-

ment or device, which is located adjacent the grain conveyer or elevatorB of a thresher, (the latter not heilig shown,) with which conveyer thedevice has communication by the opening or passage-way O, Fig. 4,through which the grain is passed and dumped into the measuring-chamberD of the attachment.

E designates the upper cut-oft` slide, which is mounted in the upperportion, or substantially so, of the device and preferably arranged sothat it will slide in and out in the guides l?. To the outer edge ofsaid slide is movably attached one or more connectingrods Gr and Il, theother end of rod G being pivoted to a crank-arm g, which in turn isattached to the shaft I, which is journaled a suitable distance abovethe slide E in bearings z'- and il. The opposite end of rod ll islikewise pivoted to a crank-arm 7L, which in turn is attached to shaftI, upon which shaft at this end thereof isl mounted a cogwvheel J, themotion of which operates the slide E through the medium of saidconnecting-rods and crank-arms.

Below the slide E upon the face of the device in bearings 7u and 7U" isjournaled shaft K, having mounted on its left end the semitoothed wheelL and on its right end the sprocket-wheel M, the teeth of wheel Lbeingadapted to mesh with those of the wheel J above it to operate the latterand the wheel M being in engagement, by means of endless chain N, withthe sprocket-wheel O, loosely mounted on the power-shaft P, the saidwheel O having affixed thereto, as at q, a pawl Q, and upon the innerend of shaft P, adjacent the wheel O, is permanently mounted theconcentric cam R, arranged to be engaged by and disengaged from the pawlQ, as at r, and a spring S is so arranged with respect to thesprocket-wheel O and pawl Q that the latter will be normally held inengagement with the former as shown. One end of said spring is attachedto the wheel, while the other operates upon or is attached to the pawl.

It will of course be understood that I do not confine myself to thesprocket-wheels and chain as a means of transmitting motion; but anysuitable instrumentalities must be considered as within my invention.

A suitable distance below the semitoothed wheel L and adapted to meshtherewith and IOO be operated thereby is mounted a cog-wheel T ofsimilar dimensions te cog-wheel J, and it is noted that the wheel L isso arranged with respect to these two cog-wheels that its teeth willalternately and successively engage the teeth of the respectivecog-wheels in its revolutions, thereby imparting alternate andsuccessive motion to the slide E and the tilting board U, located on theinside of the measuringchamber D or forming its bottom, said board beingcarried by a shaft V. To the left end of this shaft V on the outside ofthe device is attached a crank-arm W, to the free end of which arm isattached one end ot a compound connecting-rod, one portion sliding uponthe other, the sliding member X moving in the guides y and y on theother member Y, the free end of the bar X being screw-threaded andprovided with screw-nuts 00 and 0c', adapted to regulate the tension ofthe tension-spring Z, which encircles the bar X and having itsrespective ends abutting against the guides y and y', and the other endof the rod Y is pivoted to the cog-wheel T. Through the medium'ot thismechanism the tilting board is partly and linally operated.

Located adjacent the semitoothed wheel L and the cog-wheel T istrip-lever A', adapted to be operated upon by the former, while it inturn operates upon thelatter. Preferably, and as shown, this lever ispivoted tothe side of the device intermediate of the said two wheels andat the angle shown in Fig. l. lt is provided at its lower end with anotch adapted to be engaged by a pin on wheel T, as shown at t, whichholds the said wheel against motion, while its other end is adapted tobe tripped by a pin Z on wheel L, which raises the opposite end of saidlever, throwing it out of engagement with wheel T, releasing the sameand permitting it to be revolved by said wheel L, and in connection withsaid lever is a spring B', arranged and adapted to hold it in engagementwith said wheel T.

To the right-hand end of shaft V is attached a crank-arm C', to the freeend of which is pivoted vertical connecting-rod D, the other end of saidrod being pivoted to a trip-lever El, pivoted at e to the side of thebox, the free end of said trip-lever being adapted to operate upon thepawl Q, as at el, to counteract the spring S and throw said pawl out ofengagement with the concentric cam R.

The operation of the device is as follows: The machine in its normalposition is as shown in Fig. l and full lines, Fig. 4, themeasuring-chamber D being fed with grain through the opening C by meansof the conveyer B, at which time the slide E is out and the tiltingboard up and the operative machinery at rest or out or" operation, thetrip-lever C' holding pawl Q, away from and out of engagement with camR, permitting the sha-ft l? to revolve freely, the teeth of thesemitoothed wheel L being in engagement with the upper cog-wheelJ midwayof its own teeth, as shown in Fig. l, and the trip-lever A holding thelower cog-wheel T against motion, thus preventing undue disturbance ot'the tilting board upon which the grain is being dumped. Vhen therequisite quantity of grain is in the chamber D, the weight of saidgrain being equivalent to its desired measure, the spring Z, having beenset to be a'llected at this particular moment, is depressed by theaction of the tilting board from the weight thereon, the free side ofsaid board dropping just enough to permit the trip-lever E to move outof contact with the pawl Q, which by the action of its spring S isthrown in engagement with cam R, thereby causing the operative machineryto be placed in connection with the power-shaft P, which, now revolvingthe sprocket-wheel O, in turn sets in motion the sprocket-wheel M bymeans of chain N, which transmits motion to semitoothed wheel L,simultaneously sending in the slide E and cutting ott the supply ofgrain. 0u the arrival of said slide to its inward limit the teeth of thewheelL immediately commence to enthe wheel T, the same having been freedjust previously by the tripping of lever A through pin Z on wheel L, thecontinued revolution of which latter revolves the wheel T, which,through the medium of its connections with the tilting board U, throwsthe free side ot said board entirely down, thereby dumping the graininto the bags or other receptacles placed under the device to receiveit. At this time one-half of the teeth et' wheel L have passed overcog-wheel T, which continuing thus to revolve the other halt of saidteeth on wheel L raises the tilting board again to its place, thetrip-lever A engages and holds the wheel T as before, the wheel Lrevolves wheel J, throwing the slide out, and the triplever E againcontacts with pawl, releasing it from cam R, stopping the machinery, andthe device is again ready ior iilling.

It is obvious that the mechanism is pnt in motion primarily by theweight of the grain in the chamber D of the device, said grain bearingon the tilting board U, causing it to drop slightly at its free edge anddepress the spring Z. This movementin turn causes the trip-lever E' tocease its operation upon the pawl Q, Ithe spring of which causes saidpawl to engage the cam lt, and the mechanism is in engagement with thepower-shaft and the machine is in full operation, the movement of thesemitoothed wheel L throwing in the sliding eut-ott and then dumping thetilting board to its full extent.

It will be observedthat the initial and final movements of the tiltingboard are entirely independent of the receiver, the latter, as shown,having no motion whatever; but it is to be understood that my inventionis not to be limited to a stationary receiver, said invention coveringany construction wherein the tilting board upon its movement,causedbythe weight of the contents of the receiver on said IOO IIO

board, throws the mechanism of the device into operation, said tiltingboard moving irrespective and independent of the receiver.

The machine may be so constructed that one or more bags can be filledalternately and successively. In the present instance and as preferredit is made to serve two sacks by means of the divider F', secured onshaft G', the same being arranged within the casing at right angles toits front, the divider alternately opening and closing the two iiues II'and I' by its movement, which flues are formed by the partition-walls J'and K', as in Fig. 3. This divider can be manipulated, as is evident,either by hand or by the operation of the machine itself. 'Ihe drawingsdisclose one method of the latter, which consists in journaling inbearings l' and Z2 to the front of the box or casing a shaft L', towhich is secured the above-referred-to cog-wheel T. At a suitable pointon this shaft is mounted a semi cog-Wheel M', and below and so as tomesh therewith is journaled a cog-wheel N', to which latter is pivotedconnecting-rod O', the other end of said rod being attached to crank-armP', secured to the shaft Gr', carrying the divider F'.

The operation of the divider is as follows: The board U is in its raisedor normal position, the chamber I) is being` vfilled, and the semicog-wheel M' has just ceased to mesh the cog-wheel N', as shown in Fig.4t. During the disengagement of M' with N' the divider is at rest andthe board U dumps the grain, the said divider directing it to thedesired iiue and thence to the bag. Upon M' again engaging N' the boardU is being raised while the divider is thrown to register with theopposite iiue, and so on alternately and intermittently. It will thus benoted that the divider is thrown during the raising of the board U toits place, and said divider remains at rest when said board dumps thegrain. The object of this divider is to at all times have one bag underthe machine and being filled and to permitthe removal of the iilled oneand its replacement by an empty bag before the one remaining bag isfilled; but it must be understood that said divider, with its attachedmechanism, may be dispensed with without in the least departing from thespirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I clailn as new, and desire tosecure by Letters lPatent, is-- l. In an automatic grain-measuringdevice, a cut-off and a tilting board arranged to operate alternatelywith respect to each other, the cut-off being out when the tilting boardis up, and vice versa, the same being primarily set in motion by theweight of the contents of the device upon the tilting board, whichcauses the latter to move independent of the receiver.

2. In an automatic grain-measuring device, a sliding cut-oft and atilting board arranged to operate alternately with respect to eachother, the saine being thrown into operation by the weight of thecontents of said box upon the tilting board whereby the same is causedto drop slightly independent of the receiver and depress a spring whichin turn throws the mechanism into engagement with the powershaft wherebythe movements of the cut-off and tilting board are completed.

3. An automatic measuring device for threshers consisting of a box orcasing adapted to receive the grain, a power-shaft, ahorizontally-sliding cut-off, a tilting board, mechanism foralternately, successively and reversely operating said cut-off and boardfrom said power-sh aft, and means for engaging and disengaging the saidAshaft with and from said mechanism, the mechanism being primarily put inoperation by the weight of the contents of said box upon the tiltingboard,which latter has its movement irrespective and independent of thereceiver.

4. An automatic grain-measuring device for threshing-machines consistingof a box or casing adapted to receive the grain, a device in said boxadapted to hold the contents thereof within the same and allow them toescape therefrom, a power-shaft adjacent said box adapted to revolvefree from the mechanism of said box, mechanism for operating the devicewithin the casing from the powershaft, a spring in connection with saidinner device adapted to be affected by the weight of said contents onsaid inner device which latter has its movement irrespective of thereceiver, and mechanism so arranged that the movement of said innerdevice will cause the engagement and disengagement ofthe powershaft fromthe mechanism of the measuring device.

5. An automatic grain-measuring device for threshing-machines consistingof a box or casing adapted to receive grain, a horizontally-slidingcut-off and a tilting board within said box, a power-shaft adjacent thebox adapted to revolve free from the mechanism of said box, mechanismfor operating from the power-shaft the said cut-off and tilting boardalternately, successively and reversely, a spring in connection with thetilting board adapted to be affected by the weight of the contents ofthe casing upon said board, and mechanism so arranged that the movementof said tilting board will cause the engagement and disengagement of thepower-shaft from the mechanism of the measuring device.

6. An automatic measuring device for a threshing-machine consisting of abox or casing adapted to receive grain, a power-shaft adapted to revolvefree from the mechanism of said casing, a sprocket wheel loosely mountedon said shaft, a cam located adjacent said wheel permanently affixed tothe shaft, a pawl mounted on said wheel adapted to engage said cam, aspring adapted to normally hold the pawl in engagement with the cam; ahorizontally-sliding cut-off in said box, a cog-wheel mounted on thelatter, means IOO IIO

whereby the said slide is operated by said cog- Wheel; a tilting boardWithin the casing, a second cog-Wheel mounted on the latter, meanswhereby the board is partly and iinallyoperated by said cog-wheel; atensionspring mounted on said means so arranged that the Weight of thecontents of the box on the board will affect said spring, means forholding said second cog-Wheel against movement, a trip-lever operated bythe movement of the tilting board, said lever being` adapted, on suchmovement, to operate upon the pawl located on the power-sprocket tothrow said pawl out of engagement with the cam on the power-shaft; asecond shaft on said casing, a sprocket-Wheel mounted on said shaft, achai n connecting the two sprocket-wheels, a semitoothed Wheel mountedon said second shaft intermediate of and adapted to mesh with andoperate alternately, successively and reversely the upper and lowercog-Wheels, and means on said semitoothed Wheel for trippiu the leverholding the lower cog-wheel- 7. An automatic grain-measuring device forthreshing-machines consisting of a box or casing adapted to receivegrain, a'horizontally-sliding cut-off and a tilting board Within saidcasing, a power-shaft adjacent the same adapted to revolve free from themechanism thereof, mechanism for operating from the power-shaft the saidcut-off and tilting board alternately, successively and reversely, aspring in connection with the tilting board adapted to be affected bythe Weight of the contents of the casing upon said board, mechanism soarranged that the movement of said tilting board will cause theengagement and disengagement of the power-shaft from the mechanism ofthe measuring device, and a divider mounted Wit-hin the easing sooperated as to open and close alternately and intermittently the 'linesof said casing.

EARL SEXTON.

Vit-nesses:

BLANCHARD H. WHITE, JOSEPH EARL.

